


Why All The Smirking?

by A_G_Sawyer



Series: Secrets Won't Always Stay Secret [1]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Embarrassed Trevelyan, F/M, Half Naked Cullen, Iron Bull has a big mouth and he does it on purpose, One Shot, Romance, Teasing, Unresolved Sexual Tension, smirking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 08:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3404534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_G_Sawyer/pseuds/A_G_Sawyer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Mirriam Trevelyan sees Cullen with his shirt off, she finds herself in one embarrassing situation after another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Why All The Smirking?

**Author's Note:**

> I love how Cullen is in the game, but I think he should be a little more sexually confident. I sort of have this image of him having had a somewhat steady sexual past in his attempts to get past all the trauma. So, my Cullen is a little more forward than the canonical character.

“Who will challenge me?” The Commander asked, his chiseled arms spread out in front of him, a confident smirk on his face, his soldiers looking on. He wore a thin tunic that clung to his musculature in the wind, leaving very little to the imagination.

There wasn’t much room in the little field outside the front gates of Haven, but everyone knew the soldiers enjoyed these sparring matches as much as Commander Cullen did. He turned full circle in the middle of his soldiers, daring any one of them to face him. One man stepped forward, wearing his own smirk and Cullen grinned.

“McPherson, let us dance, shall we?” Cullen said tossing the soldier a practice sword and raising his own. Their lunges and turns were very much like a dance, the steps learned only from years of practice. It was clear that Cullen was far better trained than his younger opponent, though the soldier held his own, if only for a bit. McPherson swung his practice sword high above Cullen’s head, bringing it down toward his shoulder, but Cullen stepped back, feet spread, lifting his own blade up and to the side, deflecting the soldier’s attempt. McPherson’s grip was tested as he nearly lost his weapon.

In a counter attack, Cullen stepped forward and brought his blade up hoping to disarm the soldier, but McPherson turned his blade and deflected. After the soldier brought his weapon down a second time, Cullen demonstrated a blocking technique that landed McPherson on the ground, his own sword knocked from his hand and Cullen’s at his throat. McPherson grumbled and crawled out from under Cullen, returning to his place in the crowd.

Cullen grinned and held both swords victoriously in the air.

“Who's next? Come now, show me your strength! Prove to me you’re worthy of our cause!” Snickering ran through the crowd and it grew larger as others joined in to watch. Cullen set the swords against one of the dummies, and removed his shirt. Mirriam Trevelyan chose that moment to march through the gate to see what all the fuss was about. She grinned as everyone cheered, wondering what was going on, but unable to hide her own joy for the distraction.

When she saw what exactly _was_ going on, she nearly tripped over her feet. Cullen was standing in the middle of the crowd, shirtless and glistening in the sunlight, wooden sword in hand, aiming it down at a poor, defeated soldier on the ground who was laughing. Cullen’s grin was enough to steal her solid gaze, but those muscles, the sheen of sweat on his skin… Mirriam bit her lip and furrowed her brows as she stared at him. Oh he was just positively delicious… so toned, muscles and tendons rippling under his taut skin....

She found herself on her butt before she realized she’d run into Iron Bull, who was watching along with everyone else, but turned to look at Mirriam, just before she ran into him.

“Hey, Boss, might want to be careful. You know, if I didn’t know better I’d say you were... _hot_ for our brawny, fearless Commander,” Bull said, not bothering to keep his booming voice down, laughing and hefting her back to standing. Mirriam blushed and slapped his shoulder.

“Quiet, you moron, he’ll hear you!”

“Oh, I’m fairly certain he did,” Bull said, tilting his head in Cullen’s direction. Mirriam looked, cursing herself for it, and saw Cullen staring at her, his long, toned body leaning against a practice dummy, one leg crossed over the other, smirking at her, his eyes full of mischief, looking absolutely divine. And smug.

Mirriam blushed again and yelped, running back through the gates. She couldn’t believe Bull and his big mouth. She was so embarrassed, but only because she’d tried to keep her little crush a secret. She hid in her room for the rest of the morning, reading treatises and documents, signing what needed signing and approving or denying various political plans. She really hated that Josephine made her do this, but, she supposed, it was sort of her job now.

A few hours later, a knock at her door made her jump, and she opened it without thinking. The fearless lion stood on the other side, fully dressed this time, face warm and soft. Mirriam let out another yelp and slammed the door back in his face, leaning her back against it. She suddenly cursed herself for being so rash, and stood straight, clearing her throat and straightening her tunic.

Hoping her blush was at least somewhat diminished, she opened the door again. Cullen was looking at her, his face full of amusement, obviously trying very hard not to laugh.

“Yes, Commander? How may I assist you?”

_Maker, you sound like an idiot, woman, so damn formal._

Cullen smirked and Mirriam’s knees melted to the floor as the scar on his lip tugged at his mouth.

_Stop staring!_

“I just came by to ask if you would be willing to accompany me” -he paused dramatically, bowing his head and reached for her hand, the same grin teasing his lips- “to the War Room, for our meeting. Leliana has requested we discuss the bandit situation in the Hinterlands,” he said, his voice like melting chocolate. Oh, Mirriam was in serious trouble, she had to get past this ridiculous little infatuation.

Ripping her hand from his grasp, she stepped past him, forgetting to close her door and marched toward the Chantry. She heard him laugh behind her as he shut her door and followed behind. She tried to keep the sway out of her hips, but knowing he was walking behind her, she couldn’t really help herself.

When she arrived at the Chantry, she reached for the door, but he was already there, his hand on the handle.

“Allow me, my Lady,” he said, smirking again.

_Curse him and his stupid, irresistibly sexy mouth._

Mirriam glared at him and walked through the doors to the War Room where Leliana, Josephine and Cassandra were already waiting.

“They’ve got control of the fortress here, and the best way to reach it is through these woods,” Cassandra said, her voice ringing through the room. Mirriam looked at the map.

“Yes, my spies have told me as much. But do keep in mind, these are not your typical bandits, they’ve been trained,” Leliana responded. “Oh, Lady Trevelyan, Commander Cullen, happy to see you’ve joined us. We were just discussing the best way to clear out this fortress. The bandits here seem to have plans with one of the cartas that might prove to be a problem in our future. Cassandra and I both agree that the camp we’ve settled here” -she gestured to the map- “is the best place to start. Lady Trevelyan, are you listening?”

Mirriam was staring at Cullen who was leaning against the table, both hands on the edge, eyes focused on the map. His brow was furrowed and his mouth was moving, almost imperceptibly as he whispered to himself. Mirriam wondered what those strong arms would feel like wrapped around her body, crushing her against him, his beautiful mouth pressed against hers in a heated battle of wills. She could just imagine his sturdy hands roaming the length of her back, gripping her tunic in heated passion as they- Josephine’s giggle brought her out of her trance and she jumped, looking up at Leliana.

“What? Yes, of course I’m listening. Why wouldn’t I be listening?” She looked over at Cullen again, who was still staring at the map, but the barest hint of a smile tugged at his lips. Mirriam glared and turned away, focusing entirely on Leliana.

“What do you propose then, Leliana?” The spymaster perked a brow, a look of amused disapproval on her face.

“As I said, and if you had, in fact, been listening before you’d have know the answer to that question, you should start here and make your way south toward this encampment. From there you can plan your strategies a little better with my scouts. I’d recommend you not waste much time though, we’re unsure what they intend to do, but we know it’s not in our favor,” she said. Mirriam coughed and nodded, embarrassed that she’d been caught ogling the Commander again.

The meeting went on for a while longer, Leliana detailing some of the information her spies had discovered and Cullen explaining how troop movements might best be planned once they got to the selected camp. Mirriam wasn’t looking forward to the long trek, but she was grateful for the distraction it would provide from Cullen and all his alluring charm.

Leliana called the end of the meeting and Cassandra and Cullen departed, but as Mirriam was making her way out Leliana called after her.

“A moment, if you wouldn’t mind, my dear.” Mirriam stopped and turned back to the spymaster, afraid to hear what she had to say.

“I couldn’t help but notice you... studying our Commander today. It seems you’ve developed a little bit of an attachment to him,” Leliana said, _also_ smirking. Mirriam glared at her too.

_Maker, why all the smirking, people?_

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was assigned a job and I intend to complete it without hesitation,” Mirriam stated, much too formally. Leliana’s smirk blossomed into a grin and she chuckled quietly.

“I’m quite certain you intend to do _something_ , though whether it’s your job or your Commander remains to be seen. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing that second one,” she said, grinning. Mirriam blushed furiously and gasped.

“Leli-ANA! I can’t believe you! I have no intentions of bedding the Commander anytime in the near future and I certainly wouldn’t let you watch if I… if we ever…” -she shook her head, blushing, and waved her hand dismssively- “Whatever, it’s none of your business anyway. And just because I was… distracted… doesn’t mean I was distracted by him. I’ve no intention of sleeping with the Commander anytime soon,” she started, and would have continued if Leliana hadn’t put her fingers up to her mouth.

“Methinks thou doth protest too much, my dear. Just be careful, hmm? He’s a good man, I would hate to see him hurt,” she said, chuckling. Mirriam huffed and turned to leave the room, marching out into the hallway and straight into Cullen, who was...  _smirking. Again!_

“Andraste’s arse, Cullen, have you been standing there this whole time?” Mirriam asked. He made to answer her, but she stopped him. “Oh, nevermind, I don’t want to know,” she said, shaking her head and stomping off toward her quarters. Leliana walked out of the War Room and smiled at Cullen, who was watching Mirriam stomp off.

“She’s adorable, you know?” He said, folding his arms and rubbing his stubble.

“Be careful with her, Commander. She has no idea what she’s getting herself into,” Leliana said.

“Whatever do you mean, my Lady?” Cullen asked with great enthusiasm, the light in his eyes betraying his coy response. Leliana glanced at him, eyebrow cocked, hands on her hips.

“Commander,” she said knowingly, bowing her head in dismissal. Cullen laughed and let her go, rubbing the back of his neck as he... _smirked._

 


End file.
